02 November 2012

Hey boys, be creative. Build things. One day you might be an architect.

Hey girls, be pretty. Dress up in shoes that warp the shape of your feet and back. One day you might be pretty enough.

As a woman looking at raising children in the near-ish future, I've become very aware of the messages being sent to my future girls. Here's a message for girls everywhere: You deserve the f*ing Legos! You are capable. You are powerful. You are worthy of love. You can play with as many Barbies as you would like to, but just know that you don't need to wear heels or a dress to be beautiful. You were born beautiful. You were born with as much potential as anyone else. You are rad!

PS For the boys out there: All of the above applies to you too. :-)
¡Viva la Legos for ladies revolution!

13 June 2012

In cleaning up my blog (after a year or more of neglect), I found multiple drafts titled "Adoption" and decided that if it's been on my heart for this many years I should devote some time to actually finishing a post about adoption.

My darling friend Amy, her husband Andrew, and their precious Masha were my inspiration for finally getting around to posting this today. I read their love story this morning in bed and cried sweet tears of joy. A heart replenished... a young girl who KNOWS that she is loved... a family that is blessed to participate in her life from this day forward... I cried knowing that love is a great thing and that it makes miracles possible. I cried longing to love my babies wherever they are.

When I met Chris I liked a lot of things about him... I loved a lot of things about him, but I clearly remember the moment when I knew that I loved his heart... when I knew that I could trust my heart in his hands. We were in the car talking about this, that, and the other. I started talking about a book I had started reading. The book is by NPR's Scott Simon and is his adoption story. I said, "I would love to adopt one day. Having my sisters in my life has been such a blessing and I can't imagine not adopting children."

Chris responded with, "I'd like to adopt but..."

I have heard that "but" a hundred times before and I thought I knew what was coming next.

I'd like to adopt but... it's too expensive.

I'd like to adopt but... those kids have issues.

I'd like to adopt but... I don't know if I'd be able to love a child that didn't come from my loins.

I made a lot of assumptions in the millisecond that it took my future husband to finish his sentence and say exactly what my heart needed to hear. "I'd like to adopt but I'd rather adopt older children because it's harder for them to get placed in homes."

I'm sorry. What?!? You don't care about your loins being represented in this whole thing? You don't think it's only worth it to adopt if it's a baby and comes with no baggage? You just want to love the ones that need it?!?

I cried. I looked out the car window and tried to hide that I was crying. I was overwhelmed that I had found a man who shared my heart... a man who was ready for the crazy kind of love I wanted to share. I was sure that day, after only a few months of dating Chris, that he was the man that I wanted to walk beside for the rest of my life. He loves sweetly and with absolute devotion. I know that our future children will be blessed to call him Daddy.

We have some time ahead of us before we're ready to adopt... but we're moving that direction and making sacrifices now so that we can bring our kiddos home. So today as I read about Masha finally meeting her parents, I cried and thought of our kids and was overwhelmed with thankfulness. I am so very glad to have found my husband and we can't wait to find our kids wherever they may be.

"Do you want to do something beautiful for God? There is a person who needs you. This is your chance." - Mother Teresa

I’m only one. But still, I am one.

I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something.And because I cannot do everything,I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.– Edward Everett Hale

27 January 2012

I LOVE the Muppets! I especially adore Kermit the Frog. My lovely sister, Carmen, planned a The Muppets Movie surprise party for me. My birthday is Christmas Eve and I was so thankful to be celebrated. It means a lot that my dear ones set aside time during the busy holiday excitement to do something special with me. Thank you guys!

And a special thank you to Jason Segal for making The Muppets movie happen for me. I loved it!

17 June 2011

Recently I've been trying to be a better budgeter. It's been great fun to see how much we can buy with our alotted amount. We put our food cash in an envelope every Saturday and head to the farmer's market. (I highly recommend the one in Little Italy!) We buy what we want/need and then get the rest at Henry's, VONS, or Stater Brothers later in the week. I'm learning about coupons and am addicted to get1free.com.

All of this thinking about money had me wondering, do I make enough? I mean I eat every day and have all sorts of fun extras like movies and date nights, but sometimes I think "I should make more." Then I came across a nice bit of perspective, The Global Rich List allowed me to see once again that I don't only make enough, I make MORE THAN ENOUGH. So you can officially call this girl thankful and content with all I have. There is no shame in using coupons to save some dough to donate to kiva.org or to buy a new pair of toms... :-) Go ahead and type in your salary on The Global Rich List, it will blow your mind.

Now that we're planning the wedding budget... it's an even better slap in the face. I'm super excited to celebrate our love and the start of our life together with all of our friends and loved ones, and keeping the dollar amounts in context of the WORLD rather than the normal wedding budget here in the States is helpful. We are so blessed to have extra money to throw a party and not have to skip out on food just to make the bills.